Your app is being developed, what can I do with the materials I just bought?

We decided to have Gabe answer this in video form (with a text explanation afterwards, for those of you who can’t view a video right now):

I bought a pronunciation trainer. Should I wait for the new app?

No, go use it! If you do, then you’re going to have that information in your head and in your ears. That’s a skill that doesn’t go away, and so when you start using our new app, you won’t need to start from the beginning. You can just treat yourself as an early intermediate speaker and jump into learning the 625 list with the new app.

The only scenario where we might suggest waiting for the new app is if you don’t actually have enough time to go through the pronunciation trainer (i.e., in the event that the app is about to come out for your language in a couple of weeks) [See our schedule here]. Otherwise, don’t wait. Go learn pronunciation! Not only will you need fewer months of access to the new app in order to master your language, but as a thank you for your trainer purchase, we’re going to be sending you a bonus month of access anyways. Double win.

What about the Word List? I bought one...should I wait for the new app?

Nope! Go use it, just like the pronunciation trainer. If you already know vocabulary in your target language, then you don’t need to start over and relearn that vocabulary in the new app. We’re currently planning for a feature that rapidly learns which words you already know and uses that information to suggest words that you don’t yet know. This was our $1 million dollar stretch goal, and we reached that in time to be able to add it to the app's features. So everything that you learn now is less stuff that you have to learn later.

Just as before, it means you won’t need as much time in the new app to reach your goals, and again, as a way of saying “Thanks” for your purchase, we’re going to be sending you an additional bonus month of access to the new app. Double win again.

Can I transfer my Anki flashcards into the new app?

There won’t be a way to move your old flashcards from Anki into the new app. That said, you’re honestly not going to lose a lot in that transition.

Here is a little reading on Gabe's experience with this:

"I went through this transition in Japanese, when I restarted it after an 8-month break. I didn’t want to do eight months worth of old reviews, so I turned off all of my old flashcards and started over as a new, intermediate student. I only focused on learning words I didn’t yet know, and what I found was reassuring:

In practice, studying new vocabulary acted like a really effective review of my old vocabulary, because every new sentence I learned involved a bunch of old words. That made it pretty comfortable to get back in the swing of things, and I didn’t feel like I lost a lot, despite shutting off nearly 6,000 flashcards."

Again, if the app is going to come out in a couple of weeks for your target language, then maybe hold off on creating new flashcards during that time. Spend those couple of weeks reviewing your old stuff in Anki so that it’s pretty cemented in your brain.